House of Cards
by craigfuckingtucker
Summary: Going to a new school is a hard thing. Going there to meet your twin brother who you haven't seen since you were three is even harder. Roxas isn't sure he can handle this. Summary sucks. AU RikuSora AkuRoku & Zemyx.


A/N: Wow. I haven't written anything in a long time, and I got this weird inspiration to write. And it was about _Roxas_. I love the kid, but I just thought I could never write him. He's just so… I don't know.

Anyways. This story _will_ have yaoi/**boy love**, so if you don't like that, don't read. C:

I'm sorry if the characters seem OOC; I'm not so familiar with writing them.

Well, here's the first chapter. Sorry for boring you with my A/N. By the way, I don't own Kingdom Hearts (Obviously)

**Chapter One:**

The air was so thick, it was choking Roxas. The blonde's mouth was wide open, gasping, and sucking in every ounce of breath he could take. He coughed, not able to contain it. The darkness was drowning him, and the moonlight creeping from the balcony was taunting him.

_Is this nightmare real? Why won't it just keep away?_

A stirring in the bed next to Roxas made his blue eyes - dulled by the darkness engulfing him - focus on the being. The one he had known all his life, yet knew nothing about. _Sora. _His older brother by only six minutes. The one who had been by his side for three years before he was snatched away.

_Sora._

Roxas coughed, regaining his breath again. _In. Out. In. Out._

There was so many thoughts running through the blonde's mind. Why, after about thirteen years, would Sora and his mom try to fix their relationship? Why would they have run off without saying goodbye? Why was Roxas the one left behind with the abusive father? Why wasn't he loved enough to be taken by his mother?

Why did they both love Sora more than _him_?

_Oh God._

Roxas couldn't hide the fear in his throat, as he tried to choke in the sob. He was in a foreign school, in a dorm with his _chosen_ twin brother, and he couldn't stop the thoughts from passing through.

_Sora _wanted to know more about him. _Sora _was the reason for the new school, and situation. _Sora_, who had been haunting his mind, was the reason he was trying to hold back the tears.

"R-Roxas?" A soft voice echoed in the darkness, and blue eyes _shined._ His older _brother, Sora - remember, the one who always cuddled with you at night while you shared a crib till he was snatched away _- sounded worried.

_The one who's always supposed to be there. The one to back you up, because that's what brothers are supposed to do? Remember? That's what they're supposed to do, but Sora abandoned you. He never yelled or cried, just stared at you while he was dragged out._

_He stared at the freak you are, before _you_ even knew of the freak inside._

"Roxas, what's wrong?" Sora was up now, crawling out of the bed that laid in the moonlight. He was creeping to the darkness, over towards the younger sibling, eyes curious and worried.

He took long, silent breaths and stood up. "N-Nothing." And his voice was cold. His voice piercing, and he could see in Sora's eyes, they were _pained_. He had no reason why, but they were, and Roxas just jumped out of the bed, rushing towards their private bathroom.

The lights weren't turned on, till Roxas was sure the door was locked. He closed his desperate eyes, till he felt the burning orange swirl in the back of his mind. He felt the bottom of his eye twitch, as he opened his eyes to the bright florescent room. The small hall where a toilet sat on the wall, with the counter against his right, with the two sinks for them - for _Sora _and _Roxas, _since _Sora_ is always first. He gets to choose everything _first. He's firstborn after all- _and opposite that wall was the shower.

Roxas started the shower. He reached his hand in, feeling the water pelting and burning against his skin. Exactly how he wanted it, he started to peel off his clothes, and stared at his reflection while he did that. The soft pale skin of his face and arms didn't match against what his pajama shirt unbuttoned to. The bruises would be gone, faded away into a memory, in no time. There were scars, and a pale hand ran across the mark on his ribs. He hated it.

_They're beauty marks. Marks on the beautiful, to show how you're really just tainted. No one will want to save someone when they're tagged._

He entered into the water, wondering why he ever agreed to _living_ with his brother. Why he would just hurt himself by seeing what had abandoned him, and let himself get trapped into believing this will be their second chance.

_In real life, there's never second chances. You wreck it once, and life will just engulf you in it's own hell, sooner or later. Remember? Because _you_ wrecked it._

* * *

"I don't get why they'd want to see _you_ after all these years," he grumbled, driving erratically on the empty street. "I mean, _fuck_, Marcy would call to check up on me for a while, but to think, _you_? You're nothing but a burden on us _all._ You're lucky he talked her into paying your tuition. Not like I'd waste my damn money on _you._"

Roxas stared out of the window, his forehead pressed against the cold glass. He mumbled an 'I know,' as he counted the farms of animals that they passed.

_Seven… eight…_

"I mean, god-damn, she left _you_. If you weren't born, we'd still be happy together. I heard Sora's an angel. Interesting, athletic and smart. He's already getting offers to colleges, and he's taking AP classes. He was the top of his class, and what have _you_ done?"

…_Nine…ten…_

"Barely scraping through tenth grade, getting in trouble with your stupid _gang. _You've tainted that Hayner kid enough. He was off better without you, and having you go off with those sluts. What- you think I didn't know -those girls probably never meant nothing to you. Whores. You couldn't do _one damn things right. _You're an uninteresting piece of _shit._"

…_eleven…_

A laugh escaped the gravely voice. "You can't even deny it. You probably _fucked_ all those girls, and maybe even those guys, with what I've heard about you." _What could he hear, he's always making assumptions that no one told him about. _"I'd tell Marcy to keep you away from _Sora_, but Sora's a _good boy_, and he won't fall for your stupid temptations. Hopefully he'll make you _straight_ and better." He laughed, pressing hard on the breaks suddenly, as Roxas felt his body jolt to the front, before they both looked at the large gates surrounding a large campus."Well?" He coughed, grabbing a cigarette. "Get the fuck out of the car, and I better not get a call about _you_."

Roxas didn't object, as he pulled out his suitcase and watched as his _father_ made a u-turn and left.

_Good riddance._

The blonde ran a hand through his sunny twirls, eying the place. The walls were eerie, and there were kids running around in the large yard presented before the building.

_Hallow Bastian Academy for the Male Youth?_

Roxas took a few seconds to take it all in. He was actually at the school his mother had informed him of. It looked like the brochure, and Roxas wasn't sure if he was tricked by his family by this… _happy_ place.

"Hey!" A voice called out, and Roxas turned to see a tall blond running towards him. He had a big grin, and Roxas couldn't help but wonder what he had done with his _hair._ It was like a mullet, but _not -_somehow- but it worked with the skinny framed guy. "You look lost," he laughed, his voice very melodic. "Are you new?"

Roxas, nodded. "Yeah. I'm Roxas." He stared into the tall guy's eyes, contemplating on asking what color they really were. They seemed so blue, yet had a spark of green, you couldn't miss it. They had to be contacts.

"Demyx," The guy smiled, and took Roxas' hand, shaking it tightly. "Welcome. I'll show you the main office. That's where you usually register."

Demyx didn't wait for a response, as he pulled the smaller blond towards the main building. He had a large grin, and seemed really excited. "Are you going to join the swim team? We have a really great swim team, and a bunch of clubs. What are you interested in? I'm sure we'll have a club for you."

Roxas blushed, not used to the way Demyx was. His friends were never this… _exciting,_ except for whenever Hayner couldn't wait for the struggle tournament. He shook his head when he realized Demyx had been glancing at him, waiting for some answer. "I-I'm not really into anything."

Another laugh escaped the taller blonde's lips. "Well, we should change that." He winked, and Roxas wasn't sure what to think. "Here it is. Inside, you just do your thing, and yeah. Maybe I'll see you around, Roxas."

And he was gone. Just like that. Roxas watched him run over towards another figure sitting at the base of a shading tree. A sigh eluded from his lips, and he clasped the handle, turning it slowly, feeling the heaviness before he walked inside.

Blue eyes wondered over the adults walking and rushing, all behind the small secretary desk. Two hall entrances were like streets full of traffic of hasty people. A woman with long fingernails that were a bright aqua blue was typing at the desk, and she held her posture high, staring through her small reading glasses that were at the tip of her nose.

Her blond -and white blending on her scalp- hair was tied in a tight bun on top of her head. She looked up only after Roxas had walked over, and stood right in front of her for five minutes.

"_Yes_?" She looked up, her eyes dark as chocolate. "How can I help you?"

Roxas grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolding it slowly. "Um, I need to register. I'm Roxas Harada."

"Ah, okay. Well… _Harada,"_ the lady started to type on the computer, before she leaned over, and opened her drawer, pulling out sheets of paper. "Here's a map for you, of the school, and all the paperwork had already been done earlier. The door to your dorm - here" she grabbed a highlighter, circling a small square that said 'D-113.' "Your key will be in the room, and if you ever lose it, we have copies in here. Welcome to Hallow Bastian Academy, Roxas."

Her words were quick, and before Roxas could _say_ anything, she was back to typing on her computer. She ignored him as he stood there, watching when someone passed by with their hand ready to reach, she placed in the air the item to be grabbed.

She was a _really _good secretary.

"_Goodbye, _Roxas."

That made the blond turn around, at the way her voice was piercing like ice. Was he intruding in her space? Probably, he thought, as he walked out of the office, staring at the map that was given to him. _Where was he?_

"Hey!" The voice was familiar. "Lost, again Roxas?"

"You're really too much, sometimes," A soft chuckle came from behind the tall blond, who started to blush at the comment. It was the guy who had been sitting at the tree Demyx ran off to. His bright gray eyes stared at me, with a soft smile on his face. "Demyx was worried about his new friend."

Demyx laughed nervously. "I wasn't worried, Zex. Just wanted to make sure he gets on the right foot. Who knows who'd try to bully him. Marly isn't the nicest, despite his looks." He turned towards Roxas, smiling brightly. "Do you have your dorm number?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm in… D-113" he read from the paper he was given.

"Oh, that's not too far from where we dorm. We're in D - 096," Demyx said happily, "I'll take you to your room, if you want."

"Sure." Roxas didn't pay much attention as Demyx giddily dragged him through flights of stairs and the wings in the building. His thoughts were on what was going to happen _after_ he gets in the room. Who might already be in the room, and be waiting, or who'll be coming soon into the room.

"Dude, your hand's sweaty. Don't sweat about this place. It aint that bad, I promise," Demyx said with a little laugh caught in his throat. "The rooms are fairly large, so if you don't like your roommate, you'll have your own space, and he'll have his own. Plus, you can always come over and I'll keep you company."

"Demyx," Zexion warned behind the blond, making him feel a weird feeling cross through his body. _Was there a tint of jealousy in his voice?_

"Awe, don't worry Zex. I'm just trying to be a good friend."

Zexion shook his head, and Roxas heard him mumble under his breath so the taller boy wouldn't hear. "I'm afraid of that…"

It didn't take long to get to the room Roxas was assigned to. The two strangers waited as the shorter blonde grabbed his key and inserted it through the lock, opening the door. Roxas held his breath as he pushed the door, eyes widening as he saw the figure who was already in the room.

"Roxas?" The voice was a bit higher than the blonde's own voice. The first noticeable thing was the dark brown spikes that lifted above the boy's head, and then his _eyes_. It was like looking into a mirror, almost. They were bigger though, and brighter. And the brunette had a wide smile on his face.

"Sora?"

The brunettes eyes widened even more, as a large grin crossed his face. "It's really you! Wow! Who're they?" He didn't give Roxas any time to reply as he went over to Demyx and Zexion, already greeting them. "Hey, I'm Sora, Roxas' brother. We're both new here. How long have you been here? What do you do for fun?"

Zexion made a face, unsure how to reply back to the boy, but Demyx was smiling brightly, telling him all he wanted to know.

"I'm Demyx, and I've been here for the past two years. It's my third year. I love swimming, do you swim? And this is Zexion. He's my roommate, though we're supposed to have only one roommate throughout the years, we switched ours, cause he doesn't like his brother." Demyx and Sora both laughed together, and the tall blonde turned towards the shorter one. "Why didn't you say you had a brother, Roxas?"

"It never came up," Roxas mumbled, noticing the way Zexion eyed him, and nodded.

And as easy as it was, Roxas' first friends at the new school became Sora's, and they were more livelier with him. The blonde placed his bags on the bed unoccupied, noticing it was away from the window, and cornered in the shadow, and frowned. _He always was the chosen brother. He gets to choose first, right?_

"Oh, I hope you don't mind me choosing the bed by the window. If you want, we could swit-"

"No," Roxas voice cut through the brunette's sentence. "You can keep it. I don't care where I sleep." Sora looked away for a second, letting the silence pause the lively moment before he went back to talking to Demyx.

Zexion watched silently as the two converse, before he turned to Roxas. He noticed the way the blond stared at his brother, almost studying him. "I'm hungry," Zexion announced suddenly. "Roxas, care to join me to go to the cafeteria?"

Demyx turned, mouth open to respond, but as the shorter blond nodded, quickly walking with the blue haired man out of the room. He sighed, but let it go. Sora stared at the closed door where Roxas had walked out of, frowning. _It's not going to be so easy, is it?_

"So is the swim team going to have try-outs soon?"

* * *

The cafeteria was large, with a lot of students already roaming through it. "They serve food here almost 24/7. It gets pretty busy, but you get served quick."

Roxas nodded, grabbing a tray, and placing a plate on it. "Thanks. You really don't have to be so nice, you know." Zexion hummed a reply, looking up at the blonde who stared at his tray. "I can do this on my own."

Zexion smirked softly. "But like Demyx would say, what are friends for? You're new, and I really wouldn't like to see the wrong crowd try to manipulate you."

"I'm not going to get manipulated.""I never said you would. I said they'd try, but it doesn't matter. Pizza?" Zexion easily changed the subject, which Roxas realized he liked about the boy. They never stayed on a sour subject, and Roxas could almost hear his old best friend giggle softly like the delicate doll she was.

"_He's nice, and so is Demyx. Don't try to push them away Roxas."_

_I'm not trying to._

"_Course not. Heheh. You're still with those walls."_

"Classes start tomorrow. In the morning, the teachers place the schedules on the doors, but there's just delinquents who enjoy stealing or mixing up the schedules. I've told the teachers they should change the way they give the schedules to the students, but they just don't listen."

Roxas nodded. "So you're in 11th grade, right? Would that be like… third year or something, since this school is only for high school?"Zexion nodded. "We still call the students Juniors or Freshmen and the likes. It doesn't really change much, though they're going to be expanding the campus for students 5th to 8th grade in the near future. I'll probably become the Chairman for that section of the school once I graduate. That's what my father, who owns this school, wants of me."

Roxas' eyes widened. He didn't know he was sitting with the owner of the school's son.

"Don't use that piece of information to change the way you're around me, though. I distaste it when people do that." Zexion's eyes focused on a figure behind Roxas, who moved to sit next to him. "_Riku,_" he hissed, while the silver haired man smirked, turning towards the blonde.

"Hey, you're new aren't you? I'm Riku, Zexion's brother."

"Roxas," he answered, noticing Riku's smirk at his brother, before the name hit him. His eyes widened, and he smiled.

"Roxas? Is your brother Sora?"

The blonde frowned, and Zexion took note of that. "How do you know Sora?"

"We met earlier. He was talking about how he came here to meet his brother. That's crazy I got to meet you already." Riku smiled. "Your brother is interesting."

_Oh I know. I've been told about that all my life. He was the interesting, loved, perfect brother that left me._

Roxas took a big bite out of his pizza, nodding indifferently.

"Well, I've got to go. Axel is probably burning something in our dorm. I can't believe you talked me into changing 'mates," he was talking to Zexion who shrugged.

"He asked, didn't he?"

"Well, whatever. I'll see you around Roxas."

The blond just nodded again, trying not to think of his dad's words again.

_You're just a burden to us all. Sora's the interesting one. The loved, and cared for child. You're just a mistake. The fifth wheel. The spare that doesn't even work._

Roxas stood up, not even giving Zexion a glance as he walked back to his dorm for the night.

Sora was alone, but happy when he saw Roxas, but the blond didn't care, just grabbed his clothes, changed in the private bathroom then went to his side of the room. He laid in his bed, and waited for the lights to be turned off.

He felt his throat clog up when he heard his brother mutter two words. He hadn't heard those words in so long.

_Good night._

_The darkness started to creep through the room, and Roxas sat up, trying to breath, but the air became too thick._


End file.
